The Rev. Jesse Jackson emerged from an hour long meeting this afternoon with Gov. Robert Bentley calling Bentley a "decent man who I think wants to do the right thing."

Jackson, along with several dozen others, met with Bentley and Secretary of State John Merrill to talk about the state's decision to close 31 driver's licenses offices, all of them in rural communities with about half of those in majority black counties.

The decision to close the offices has ignited a firestorm of protests over concerns the action will make it harder for blacks to get the most common form of ID, a driver's license.

Alabama in one of a number of states that require a photo ID to vote. The decision to close the offices has caused some to fear the effort is aimed at suppressing black voting by the time the March party primaries role around. Other fear that reducing the opportunities to get a driver's license will just add another burden onto the residents of poor and isolated places already struggling in a hosts of areas from the need for better schools, health care, public transportation, access to grocery stores and many other needs.

Rep. Terri Sewell has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the closings.

The closings of the offices along with some state parks, National Guard armories, ABC stores and other moves came after the Legislature passed a new General Fund Budget that did not provide level funding for a number of state agencies, many of which were left having to cut their budgets from 5 percent to double figures.

Jackson said he thought progress had been made in the meeting with Bentley."He absolutely does not agree this is a voting issue and he said he would never do anything to hurt the ability of Alabamians to vote and I think he believes that in his heart," said Jackson. "Our position is that, 'okay's say we agree it is only a driver's license issue.' That's still a serious issue in these communities. And these communities - white and black - need to be able to have reasonable access to obtaining a license and when you have to drive an hour or longer to take a test that's an issue."

Jackson said Bentley agreed to meet again with the leadership of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency - which recommended the closings due to the small number of people using the offices - to take another look at the closings.I'm satisfied we made some progress today. We will keep talking and watching," said Jackson.

Bentley's response came from Jennifer Ardis, his communications director."Gov. Bentley listened to the concerns raised today by Reverend Jesse Jackson," said Ardis in an email. "Secretary Merrill explained the options for citizens to receive a photo ID in order to vote. Gov. Bentley and the Legislative Black Caucus agreed to work together to find solutions to further fund driver license offices in Alabama's rural counties."

Jackson also said he urged Bentley to take another look at expanding the Medicaid program in the state. About 1 million Alabamians - most of them poor, children and the elderly - depend on Medicaid for their health. Through the federal Affordable Care Act, known better as Obamacare, the federal government will initially pick up most of the tab for expanding the program, a move that could pump several billions of dollars into the state.

Bentley has to date refused to expand Medicaid saying the state system has been so broken that the additional dollar would largely be wasted without improving care.

But Jackson said he believes Bentley is in the process of reconsidering that decision.

"He's a doctor and a governor and I think he understands both the economic benefits of expanding but also the health care benefits as well," said Jackson. "I know he has been in on-going talks with the federal government regarding expansion and I think he is carefully and cautiously moving toward expansion but he is not there yet."

Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery who is chairman of the House black caucus, was also in the meeting and emerged calling the meeting a positive one."I think we had a good meeting, a very informative meeting," said Knight. "I think we brought some things to the governor's attention that we can work on. But I don't want to be premature. I think the ball is in the governor's court right now and we will see.